Lampshades are vital components in lighting fixtures. They serve a number of purposes, such as directing light to a desired surface, reducing glare, and providing an attractive alternative to an unsightly lighting source such as a light bulb.
Lampshades are often used on chandeliers, lamps, and sconces. These types of lighting fixtures may use lampshades that mount directly to the fixture or to a lighting source such as a light bulb. These types of lighting fixtures are often difficult and hazardous to reach in order to install lampshades properly or to replace burned out light bulbs.
Once lampshades are installed on a lighting fixture, they often have to be removed and reinstalled to replace burned out light bulbs. After reinstallation, the shades usually require adjustment to improve the performance and the aesthetic appearance of the fixture.
FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a conventional lampshade assembly 13 attached to a light bulb 3. The lampshade assembly 13 has a conventional clip 5, which is made by bending a loop of wire over another wire, cross-member 7, and securing it with a fastener 9. When the clip 5 is mounted to a light bulb 3, it is spread apart to fit over the light bulb 3. The arrangement of the clip 5, cross-member 7, and fastener 9 generates tension in the clip 5 that holds the lampshade assembly in place.
The aforementioned lampshade assembly is commonly used to mount lampshades to lamps, chandlers, sconces, and other lighting fixtures. In addition, there are other conventional lampshades that mount directly to the candlestick 11, below the light bulb 3.
Though both of these approaches to mounting lampshades hold the shade in place, they each have disadvantages.
The conventional lampshades that mount directly to the candlestick hold the lampshade correctly with respect to the candlestick. However, they have a framework that is lower with respect to the top of the shade, which makes it exposed from below and thus detracts from the lampshade's appearance. Furthermore, these conventional lampshades cannot be adjusted.
In addition, conventional lampshades that mount on light bulbs, such as that shown in FIG. 5, cannot be easily adjusted either. Though lampshades have been used on oil lamps and candles (See Wantanabe U.S. Pat. No. 1,178,764, for example) and installed on fixtures using electric light bulbs for a number of years, there has not been a lampshade invented that allows one to easily adjust the angle of the lampshade once it is placed on a lighting fixture or light source.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide an improved lampshade assembly for facilitating adjustment of a lampshade to a desired angle after it has been installed on a fixture.